Spring is here!

It is officially Spring! The weather has felt like Spring for a long time but now it is actually here. To celebrate we headed to the park and playground at the waterfall in Old Towne Helena. The kids had fun and when we got home we had a surprise waiting for us. Each child had a basket nest full of goodies set out for them. We don't celebrate Easter but we like to incorporate some of the old fashioned fertility symbols like eggs and rabbits into our welcoming Spring activities. Lyn dyed some eggs and Connor and Evan (with Ben's help) played the Wild Craft board game. The eggs made it on one round of hiding before they all were eaten.

St. Patrick's Day

The sun was shinning and the kids played hard. I took the 4 youngest to the St. Patrick's Day party at the library. Ben was a bit challenged by all the excitment.I was going to start taking him to group storytime at the library but he may not be ready for it yet. It would be one thing if he went to daycare everyday and wqs used to structored group activities with other todddlers but he stays at home. We will probably just stick with more informal play groups and play at the library. After the story at the party the kids could choose to eat some snacks or work on some craft projects. Of course food came first. I did not know there were so many artifically colored green snacks out there to tempt children. Ben was still a bit agitated so I held him as Annika, Evan, and Eliot worked on making leprachaun hats and bookmarks. We played in the preschool section for a little while afterwards but the kds were pretty tired even though we weren't there very long. Ben fell asleep on the way home and slept about 4 hours. Since the weather was so nice I encouraged the 3 little kids to play outside. They had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and orange slices for lunch outside. When they became a little bored I brought out the ice for ice play. I showed them how to 'paint' with teh melting ice and just plain have fun with it. To put a St. Patricks Day twist on it I added a little green food coloring. They played for hours more......

And now some ice play pictures................

Almost Spring

The weather has been great lately. It has been warm and the kids have been spending more and more time outside. Evan is digging a hole, Eliot is helping Annika with her container garden, Ben is exploring the play tent, and Annika is great at handstands.

New buds on the trees

Leave it to Alabama to already have buds growing on the trees when Winter really just started. My lemon balm finally withered up but new leaves and shoots are already peeking out under the old. Spring will be around the corner.

Getting ready for Spring

I have been doing a lot of planning for Spring this year. The days are getting longer so I wanted to take advantage of the sunlight. When I got home from work I loaded the kids in the van and headed to the "flower store". That gave Dad a break so he could get dinner ready. We picked up some herbs and some pansies. I also bought a gardenia bush.

Everyone helped get the hanging baskets ready but Lyn really got into it the most. She did not even want to use garden gloves. She wanted to feel the earth in her hands. When we were finished we cleaned everything up and ate dinner on the front porch. Then we took the lantern we keep on the front porch and we went for a walk. We collected some cypress branches and pear blossoms for our baskets on the front porch. We then had a quiet circle where we talked about the day.